Ex-officer pleads not guilty to sex charges FORT SMITH (AP) — A former Fort Smith police officer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to five felony counts of first-degree sexual assault involving a 16-year-old girl. The Times Record reports that the attorney for Billy Rowe Jr., 31, entered the plea Wednesday morning prior to his scheduled arraignment and that Rowe is free on $25,000 bond. KHBS-TV reports that Rowe, of Bonanza, was not present for the hearing. “These charges stem from a crimina...

Body found near fairgrounds in Pocahontas POCAHONTAS (AP) — Authorities in Pocahontas say a body has been found near the fairgrounds in the northeast Arkansas city. Police say the body was found beside the Randolph County Fairgrounds Wednesday afternoon and that Arkansas State Police are investigating. Neither a name nor gender of the dead person has been released.

Federal gun laws didn’t block Navy Yard shooter WASHINGTON (AP) — The gunman in the mass shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, Aaron Alexis, had a history of violent outbursts, was at least twice accused of firing guns in anger and was in the early stages of treatment for serious mental problems, according to court records and U.S. law enforcement officials. But Alexis apparently managed to exploit seams in the nation’s patchwork of complicated gun laws designed to keep weapons out of the ...

Navy Yard gunman told police he was hearing voices WASHINGTON (AP) — A month before he went on the shooting rampage that killed 12 people, Washington Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis complained to police in Rhode Island that people were talking to him through the walls and ceilings of his hotel rooms and sending microwave vibrations into his body to deprive him of sleep. The account, contained in an Aug. 7 report from Newport, R.I., police, adds to the picture that has emerged of an agitated and ...

Lawyers seek ruling in execution lawsuit LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Lawyers for nine death row inmates asked a judge this week to deem Arkansas’ new lethal injection law unconstitutional because they say it gives too much power to the state’s correction agency. The Department of Correction, however, asked a judge to uphold the law, arguing that it’s constitutional. It’s not clear when a judge might weigh in on the matter, but a decision in the case could either speed up or further delay exec...

Troopers fatally shoot man in Judsonia standoff JUDSONIA (AP) — A Judsonia man was killed in a shootout with an Arkansas State Police SWAT team after an hours-long standoff in White County, authorities said Tuesday. Judsonia police responded to a call Monday night about a man who was allegedly making threats to neighbors, Arkansas State Police said in a news release. According to state police, Charles Adrien Martin, 40, allegedly fired a gun at a police officer, then holed up inside his hom...

Trial reset for man charged in Arkadelphia case ARKADELPHIA (AP) — The trial of a man charged in the killings of an Arkadelphia man and his two young stepdaughters has been rescheduled. Riakos Lizana II is charged with capital murder in the Dec. 6 deaths of 4-year-old Marley Crutchfield, 6-year-old Adiele Crutchfield and the girls’ stepfather, Bobby Jean Galbraith, in Arkadelphia. Lizana was previously scheduled to go on trial next month, but a judge has rescheduled his trial to begin Feb. ...

Juvenile drug court in Craighead County to end JONESBORO (AP) — Craighead County’s juvenile drug court will be discontinued and a $1 million federal grant to the program will be returned, officials said. The court tries to help participants with drug and alcohol abuse and some mental conditions, and includes counseling and therapy. Those chosen must submit to drug tests. Officials said participants have a lower chance of recidivism. Judge Lee Fergus, who has overseen the program since its ...

Arson suspected in fire at Stuttgart nightclub STUTTGART (AP) — Authorities suspect arson in a fire that broke out at a Stuttgart nightclub last week. A report from the Stuttgart Fire Department says authorities found two bottles of lighter fluid and the lid to a gas can after extinguishing a blaze Thursday at Casey’s Warehouse. The Stuttgart Daily Leader reported damage to the nightclub was estimated at $2,000. No arrests have been made. Authorities say the fire happened less than two wee...

Bond Hearing (Sept. 14, 2013(The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Friday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear Oct. 7 in Circuit Court. • Gayle Paladino, 44, fraudulent use of a credit card, forgery and failure to appear — $200,000. A warrant was issued for Paladino after she did not appear for an Aug. 12 court date, according to court documents. On Aug. 2...

Records in death of man, 107, to be sealed LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A judge issued an order Friday barring law enforcement officers from releasing any more information about the case of a 107-year-old Arkansas man who died in a police standoff last weekend. Records relating to an investigation into the Sept. 7 death of Monroe Isadore in Pine Bluff also will be sealed, Judge Berlin Jones said. He also appointed special prosecutor Jason Barrett and special deputy prosecutor Jack McQuary to inv...

Benton woman arrested on 11th DWI charge BENTON (AP) — Benton police said a woman has been arrested for her 11th driving while intoxicated charge. Police said in a news release Sheila Blair, 49, of Benton was arrested Wednesday afternoon for DWI, refusing to submit to an intoxication test and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. Online jail records show she is being held without bond. Police say Blair was arrested by officers investigating reports of a reckless driver and that s...

Bond Hearings (Sept. 12, 2013)The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Wednesday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed. If charged, they will appear Oct. 7 in Circuit Court. • Matthew Hill, 30, three counts rape and three counts first-degree sexual assault — $100,000. Hill was arrested Tuesday following a report made to the Child Abuse Hotline, according to testimony from an officer with th...

3 Texarkana-area officials seek audit TEXARKANA (AP) — Three Texarkana officials, including the local prosecutor, have asked Arkansas auditors to review financial incentives for a business park that were negotiated by a former city manager who was rehired last week. Texarkana rehired Harold Boldt two months after awarding him a $162,000 severance package. The audit request doesn’t mention Boldt by name, but the city manager negotiated financing for the Crossroads Business Park on ...

Trial date set for man in machete slayings FORT SMITH (AP) — A judge has set a trial date for a Fort Smith man charged with capital murder for using a machete to kill two people. Circuit Judge Steve Tabor on Tuesday ordered trial to start Feb. 6 for 20-year-old Gregory Anthony Kinsey. A lawyer for Kinsey says she expects to ask that trial be delayed due to a scheduling conflict. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Kinsey, who is charged in the June slayings of 39-year-old Bra...

Pine Bluff man, 107, spoke of being shot before standoffLITTLE ROCK (AP) — A 107-year-old Arkansas man who died in a police standoff this weekend told officers months earlier that they would have to shoot him or throw him in jail before he went back home with his son-in-law, according to police reports obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. Monroe Isadore made the comments during an argument in June when he said his daughter and son-in-law didn’t want him around, according to one of several poli...

Audit: Poor management in University of Arkansas divisionLITTLE ROCK (AP) — State auditors said Tuesday that poor management and a failure to follow school policies led to unbridled spending within a division at the University of Arkansas but that there was no evidence that blowing the budget was done for anyone’s personal gain. The Fayetteville campus’ Advancement Division, which handles the school’s public relations, alumni groups and fundraising, overspent its budget by $3.2 million in the fiscal...

Jones suit against Russellville dismissedLITTLE ROCK — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Russellville city officials by the then-boyfriend of slain Arkansas Tech University student Nona Dirksmeyer. Kevin Jones filed the suit Dec. 15, 2011, in federal court in Little Rock against Russellville Police Department Det. Mark Frost, then-Chief James Bacon and Gary Dunn. He alleged Frost and Bacon “tacitly agreed” to protect Dunn from prosecution in order to have Jones prosecuted...